


A Mile in Each Other's Shoes

by Xelkyrien



Series: Rapunzel's Freaky Friday [1]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Alchemy, Bodyswap, Canon Compliant, Complicated Relationships, F/M, Identity Issues, Magic, Memory Loss, Not Canon Compliant, Other, Picnics, Sundrop (Disney), soul swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 11:09:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21035270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xelkyrien/pseuds/Xelkyrien
Summary: Rapunzel decides to have a "Friends' Day" with Varian, Eugene and Lance to help rebuild their relationships, but when Rudiger and Pascal wander away from the festivities Rapunzel and Varian venture out to find them only to stumble upon a trap in an ancient ruin. The two wake up the next morning as each other.





	1. She doesn't even wear shoes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being alot longer than I thought it was going to be and I was pretty tired by the time I reached the last few sections so I'm sorry.

It was another beautiful day in the kingdom. The skies above Corona were a striking blue, dotted here and there with soft white clouds that did nothing to obstruct the warm bright glow of the sun. The weather was warm, making it a perfect day to be outdoors.

Rapunzel, Varian, Eugene and Lance were gathered together at the edge of the forest, seated on a large blanket and chatting. The princess had felt that the three should work on rebuilding their friendship with Varian after everything that had happened. With how lovely the day was turning out to be the bubbly blond took the opportunity to schedule a fun activity for the group and declared it “Friends Day”. The four of them had been busy all morning doing everything from arts & crafts to a game of tag that most of their friends ended up involved in. When afternoon came they had finally settled down and decided to spend the next hour or two having a quiet, relaxing picnic.

Rapunzel packed the dishes away into the basket they had brought them in and sat back, turning her face up towards the sun to drink it it’s warm rays. Lance and Eugene had grown quiet, sprawled out on the blanket side-by-side. The three boys had been watching the clouds and pointing out what shapes they made, but it seemed like the older two had finally lapsed into their customary food comas. With the pair of best friends now snoozing quietly Varian scooted over to sit next to Rapunzel. The acting queen looked over at him, giving him a happy smile. She was glad that they had managed to work out their differences and become friends again. She had missed Varian.

The young alchemist returned her smile, and though there was a bit of hesitancy to it it was genuine. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke, “H-hey. Thanks, again. For-for giving me a second chance after everything I did. You guys are… the only real friends I’ve ever had.”

“Of course. Everybody deserves a second chance.” The blond told him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him in gently for a hug, “You’re a good friend and I missed you.”

With more certainty that he had displayed earlier, Varian brought his arm up around her shoulders and returned the hug. They stayed that way for a moment before separating, both leaning back to look at one another. Rapunzel gave him another smiled and corrected, “We’re not your only friends though. You have Rudiger.”

“Yeah.” The boy agreed with a nod, a small smile gracing his face. After a minute his expression changed, his eyebrows knitting together in question, a frown marring his features. The ravenette glanced around. Not finding what he was searching for, he asked, “Where is Rudiger?”

A look of confusion crossed Rapunzel’s face and she glanced around just as Varian had, “I… don’t know, but Pascal’s gone too.”

“What if they got into some kind of trouble? We should go look for them.” worry had entered the princess’s tone at the prospect that her oldest friend may be lost or hurt. She would never want anything bad to happen to either of them. To her relief, Varian agreed, his demeanor growing serious. He gave a sharp not and stood up then offered her his hand. She took it and got to her feet.

Varian and Rapunzel searched the immediate area first until they found raccoon tracks. The pair followed the tracks into the forest without pause until they came upon a crumbling stone structure almost completely hidden by vines. They could barely make out a sagging doorway that open to pitch darkness. The tracks lead strait to it.

Carefully, the two cleared away the vines draped over the entrance and made their way inside, calling out to their lost friends. Varian pulled out a vial and shook it, its contents illuminating the tunnel they were in with a soft blue glow. A path made of stones stretched out before them, sloping downward. Without hesitation, Varian and Rapunzel descended that path, venturing deeper and deeper into the earth.

Eventually the tunnel ended, opening out into a large chamber. Here the two heard a soft scratching sound and could just make out two small shapes moving near the far wall. They wasted no time rushing over to the shapes, the glow illuminating them better the closer the pair got. Pascal and Rudiger were tangled up in the vines growing over the walls, struggling in a futile attempt to free themselves. When the animals saw their friends they made noises of distress, begging for help.

Rapunzel reached them first, dropping to her knees and tugging at the vines with Varian following closely after. The plants were strangely strong and sticky, but with a considerable effort Pascal and Rudiger were freed. The two humans, on the other hand, were now stuck. They pulled against the sticky vines that clung to their clothes and hair until they managed to free themselves as well, pulling the plants away from the wall in the process.

It was Varian that heard the faint click that came from the wall of the chamber. Memories from their trip through Herz Der Sonne’s tunnels flooded back into his mind and a look of panic took over his face. He spun on his heel, turning towards Rapunzel and hastily telling her, “Uh, we need to go!”

She nodded and with a shout of “Go! Run!” the four of them sprinted towards the exit as a purple gas began emitting from pinholes in the ancient stone walls. Rudiger and Pascal reached the doorway first and bounded up the steep incline that lead out into the forest. The animal companions were already out by the time that the purple gas managed to fill the room and lower half of the tunnel, enveloping Rapunzel and Varian. Despite their best effort not to the human friends inhaled the gas, coughing and sputtering as it burned their lungs and stung their eyes. While they waded through it towards the door Varian took out a vial and captures some of the strange purple gas within it, the alchemist in him telling that he should analyze it later to find out exactly what it was doing to them.

As the pair picked their way up the tunnel the gas dissipated, filtering out through some hidden vent and allowing them to see again. They emerged from the tunnel coughing and rubbing their eyes. It took the two a moment get a handle on it and another for the burning to subside. Once it had the princess and the alchemist were feeling alright again but they looked much the worse for ware, their hair tangled and messy and their clothing covered in sap and dirt.

“Well, I think that’s enough excitement for one day!” Rapunzel declared, clapping her hands together in front of her and holding them there, a too-big smile on her face. Varian had to agree. One near-death experience per month was enough for him. At least he couldn’t complain that his life was dull.

“Yeah. I should go home and get cleaned up. Then I need to study whatever that was in there.” He told her, picking up Rudiger and holding him tightly. She nodded in response, “That’s a good idea. I should get cleaned up to. I’ll need to get Eugene and Lance and head back to the castle. Do you want us to walk you home first?”

“No.” Varian replied, shaking his head, “You head back and get yourself sorted out. I can get home on my own. “

“Alright. Next time we hang out we should probably stay in the city.” The acting queen joked. He offered her a smile in return and said his goodbyes before the two parted way.

* * *

When Varian woke the next morning his mind was foggy and it took him a moment to get his bearings. The first thing he became aware of was that he wasn’t lying on his soft bed anymore and his back hurt. He remembered going to bed last night after analyzing the purple gas from the ruin, but it seemed that, at some point, he had ended up back at his desk and fallen asleep there.

The young alchemist groaned and forced his eyes open, sitting up. He was immediately confused by what he saw. The room he was in was bright and expensively decorated. There were elegant designs painted over the light colored walls. In front of him was a book filled with words and a picture that depicted his little adventure yesterday.

This wasn’t his room.

This was Rapunzel’s room.

Why was he in Rapunzel’s room? How had he gotten here? Had he been sleepwalking? It was way too early for this. He groaned again and ran a hand through his hair as he tried to work this situation out in his mind. He ended up dislodging something, hearing a series of clinks as what had felt like beads clattered to the ground. A long blond strand entered his vision and he froze, feeling his blood run cold. Slowly, cautiously, he reached up with a shaking hand to grab the strand and tug on it. He felt the pull on his scalp, indicating that the hair was indeed attached to his head.

Varian swiftly leapt to his feet, knocking his chair over with a loud thud, and dashed over to the nearest reflective surface. Gazing into it confirmed his fears.

It wasn’t his face staring back it him. It was Rapunzel’s.

He screamed.

* * *

Rapunzel woke as the rays of dawn began filtering in through her window. Immediately she became aware of the fact that she wasn’t at her desk where she had fallen asleep writing in her journal, but she didn’t dwell on it, figuring that Eugene or maybe Max had moved her to her bed or even that she wandered there half asleep. She sat up in bed and stretched, saying good morning to Pascal through a yawn. She was a little chilly and sleep clung to her but overall she felt good.

It was then, when Rapunzel finally opened her eyes, that her face fell. She was in a small poorly lit room that contained little aside from the bed, a desk and a few shelves and storage spaces.

This wasn’t her room.

Something jumped up next to her, making her start. Once she saw what it was, however, she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding in a sigh of relief. Gently, she reached a hand out to scratch the raccoon that had jumped up onto the bed next to under his chin, giving him a warm smile and asking, “Rudiger? Where are we? Where’s Varian?”

Rapunzel stilled, hearing her words as she spoke. That wasn’t her voice. She sounded like… Now that she looked closer at it, that hand wasn’t hers either. She had only seen his hands once in all the time she had known him because he was always wearing gloves, but she still recognized it. It looked just like Varian’s hand.

Hesitantly, the confused princess reached up and ran a hand through her hair, feeling locks that were far too short to be hers. Her hand brushed against something round and briefly the realization that Varian wore his goggled to sleep crossed her mind before she moved her hand away to instead grab a handful of hair. She tugged it down in front of her eyes so she could see it, feeling a pull on her scalp that seemed so familiar against all the strangeness going on. It was something she had felt daily since her hair had gotten long enough to climb. What met her eyes, however, were not golden locks, but inky black ones with one signature stripe running through them.

She felt as though she had been doused in ice water.

Panic and confusion set in, causing her breathing to pick up. After a moment or two she started to feel a little light-headed and a small, distant part of her mind warned her against hyperventilation. She wasn’t in a state to pay it any mind right now though. Rapunzel flung off the sheet she was covered in and sprung out of bed, only to have reality crash back down on her as she realized why she was feeling chilly.

“Oh my!” the displaced princess squeaked and hastily grabbed the black coat from the back of the desk chair, wrapping it tightly around herself. It wasn’t just the fact that it was a sheet and not her fluffy comforter that she had been sleeping under; Aside from the goggles adorning her head Rapunzel found herself clothed in only shorts and a tunic.

She wasted no time grabbing the nearest clothing and getting properly dressed. She wasn’t sure what else to do. Her curiosity made her want to have a look around, maybe see if she could find the research Varian had been doing on the purple gas from the ruin to try to figure this out, but she didn’t feel right nosing through his belongings. She may have swapped bodies with Varian but she was still very much Rapunzel, so it would still be invading his privacy. She was already in his room and had slept in his bed, not that she chose to, but that was still too much of an invasion for her liking.

A thought struck her then: if she was waking up here as Varian did that mean he was waking up in her room as her?

If that were the case then he was probably just as confused and scared as she was. Perhaps more so, considering that she had far more experience with being magically altered than Varian did.

With that thought in mind Rapunzel had her direction. She pulled on the coat she was still holding and tugged the collar a little higher, drawing in a little more, as she made her way through the laboratory out into Old Corona. The action reminded her of the time she had sneaked into Stalyan’s wedding disguised as a ruffian. She knew she was an imposter then and tried her best to hide and remain unseen, just like now. If that and her time travel fiasco were any indication she wasn’t a very convincing actress. Rapunzel sighed at the thought and kept moving, heading down the familiar path towards the castle.

* * *

Varian’s screams summoned Eugene, who burst through the doors of the room with worry and panic written across his face. The man rushed over took him and took him by the shoulder asking, “I heard you scream. What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I…” Varian tried, gazing up at the brunette with an identical look of panic. He couldn’t find the words to say to explain what was happening. Nothing made sense right now. He watched a more concern flooded into Eugene’s expression and the man spoke to him again, “Blondie? Come on, talk to me.”

_‘He thinks I’m Rapunzel.’_ It occurred to Varian. Then another thought replied, _‘Of course. You look just like her.’_

The alchemist opened his mouth to try to voice this, to tell Eugene that he wasn’t actually his girlfriend, but closed his mouth again when the words failed to come out. For a moment Varian wondered if he was in shock and that’s why it wasn’t working. Is this what being in shock feels like? He couldn’t say for sure. He had never been in shock before nor had he witnessed anybody go into shock so he had no point for comparison. At this point Pascal has made his way over to them, having climbed up to Eugene’s shoulder, and was looking at him with just as much worry as the former thief was. Faced with both of them, Varian gave up trying to explain and just shook his head.

This only caused Eugene to become confused. The man’s brows knitted together and he glanced around the room at the seventy feet of blond hair that was sprawling all over the place. It looked a shade or two darker than it usually did, but he attributed that to something wrong with the room’s lighting. With so little to go by Eugene gave his most logical guess, “Was it another vision?”

Varian shook his head again and the response only made the brunette furrow his brows further. He frowned, “Blondie, I can’t help if you don’t talk to me.”

“I-I… I’m not…” the teen tried again. He bit the inside of his cheek and squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to take a few deep breaths to calm down. They came out shaky but they worked. For how long, he didn’t know, so rather than think over what he wanted to say he simply blurted out, “I’m not Rapunzel!”

Eugene’s eyes widened at the outburst and he quickly withdrew his hands, taking a step back. Varian clapped his hands over his mouth and stared at the older man with equally wide eyes. The two stood there like that for what felt like hour, neither of them daring to speak, neither of the daring to even blink. The former thief broke the silence first, spluttering and unable to form a coherent sentence yet. The man shook his head and cleared his throat before trying again, this time demanding, “If you’re not Rapunzel then who are you?! And where is she?!”

“Right here!” a familiar voice answered from the doorway.

Both brown and green eyes turned to look at the newcomer. Varian gasped audibly as he saw himself standing there at the threshold of the room wearing the black coat he had during the Saporian take over and looking winded, as though he had sprinted here.

“I can explain everything.” This Varian, who was apparently actually Rapunzel, continued after he (she?) had caught her (his?) breath, “Well, not… _everything _everything, but some of everything?”

Eugene nodded silently, looking dumbfounded. It took him a moment to recover before Rapunzel made her way into the room and the trio all found a place to sit down so she could elaborate on their earth-shattering predicament. Varian watched the girl wearing his face as she recounted the details of what happened during yesterday's picnic and told them about falling asleep at her desk and waking up in Varian’s room. By the end of her tale after she told them that she still has no idea how they switched bodies the alchemist had finally managed to find his voice, suggesting to the others, “It _was_ an ancient ruin. Maybe Xavier would know something about it?”

* * *

It took the group of friends longer than they would have liked to get out of the castle. Varian had trouble navigating around his now-70-foot-long hair and had almost tripped over it several times before Rapunzel helped him braid it. Despite the setbacks and confusion of the day they finally found themselves standing in front of the blacksmith’s shop. Xavier, who had been sharpening a sword, stopped what he was doing as the group approached, regarding them with curiosity.

“Princess, Varian, what brings you here today?” the old blacksmith asked, his tone friendly.

The trio explained their situation to the best of their ability. Xavier listened quietly to whole time, absorbing the information and combing through his mental archives for a solution for them. When they concluded their story he nodded and began one of his own, “Hmm, yes. I believe I know the cause of your problems, and the cure. According to legend, one of Zhan Tiri’s follows constructed a chamber deep underground as a place to test his magical creations, the last of which was a mystical purple fog that had the ability to switch the souls of any who were caught in it. The individuals whose souls were swapped would be slowly changed, their personalities becoming more and more like that of the person whose body they inhabited and their memories would grow hazy until they lost themselves completely, unaware that they were ever anybody else.”

“Is there a way to switch them back before that happens?” it was Eugene that asked, though they were all thinking it. Rapunzel could see the concern written on his face, the fear in his eyes at the idea that he may lose both the woman he loves and the friend he was just getting to know again. She slipped her hand into his and gave it a gentle squeeze to try to comfort him. The former thief tensed for a moment at the unfamiliar gloved hand that had grasped his before his mind reminded him that it belonged to Rapunzel and he returned the reassuring squeeze.

Xavier nodded and continued, pulling a book off the shelf and opening it to a page that contained a recipe of some sort, “Indeed, there is. According to the legend Lord Demanitus discovered this insidious creation and developed an antidote that would return the displaced souls to their original bodies and reverse the damage that had been done. The recipe for the potion is in this book, but I don’t have the ingredients or the equipment to make it.”

At this Varian moved forward and looked at the book, taking note of the ingredients and the process of creation. They seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite place them. He pursed his lips and briefly wracked his mind for the answer that he knew was just at the tip of his tongue. Finally it came to him and he was both simultaneously relieved and terrified. I took him far too long to remember where he had seen this equipment before. Clearly the memory loss was already taking a hold of him and he found himself wondering if the same was happening to the princess. He didn’t allow what he was feeling to enter his voice as he explained, “Is that all? I have most of these ingredients in my lab at home and all the equipment we would need to make it. If we can collect these last three ingredients I can make the potion.”

The blacksmith marked the page in the book and handed it to the group but shook his head, telling them in a grave tone, “There is one more thing. The two of you must drink the potion within 24 hours of your exposure to the gas or your condition will be irreversible.”

* * *

With no time to spare the trio decided to split up, each of them tracking down an ingredient. It was risky with Rapunzel and Varian’s already fading memories but they had to have this potion made and drank by this afternoon. Surprisingly, it was Varian that had argued for not splitting up, telling Eugene and Rapunzel that they would be stronger and faster is they worked together, and it was Rapunzel that made the logical point that they could cover more ground to find what they were looking for if they split up.

In the end they split up. Rapunzel headed to the caves along the coast in search of a glowing mineral, Varian traveled to Mount Saison to find the blossom of a specific flower and Eugene had to retrieve a feather from Hamuel. Though the former thief already knew exactly what he was looking for and where to find it his task was likely to be the most difficult of the three. Pascal opted to go with him as back up, leaving the princess and the alchemist to their own device. They wished each other luck and parted ways.

Varian made his way up the path to the mountain, studying the picture of the ingredient he needed that he copied out of Xavier’s book. He wished he had had the time to color the image, but he pushed that desire aside for later. What he needed was a deep purple flower with six petals edged with spines. It was a fairly unique flower so it shouldn’t be too hard to find.

He got to the cliff of Mount Saison without trouble and began methodically combing the area for the plant, but couldn’t find any trace of it. He double checked, but there was still no sign of the flower on the cliff. Finally, the teen chanced a glance over the edge of the cliff and saw what he was looking for. The flower in sight, he carefully reached down for it, trying not to think about how easily he could end up plummeting over the edge to his doom.

As fate would have it, that’s exactly what happened.

Varian’s delicate fingers closed around the plant and plucked it from the rocky cliff face, but he had leaned too far forward so when he attempted to pick himself up he instead fell, tumbling over the edge. Rather than panicking, however, he pulled the beads from his hair with a practiced ease and took hold of the long locks, so dark now that they were almost brown, tossing them like a whip or a grappling hook so that they caught on a branch that was jutting out from the side of the cliff and wrapped around it. He swung himself up and landed back on the cliff on his bare feet.

Varian stood there for a moment just blinking, marveling at the feat he had just accomplished as though it were something he did every day. Then, flower in hand, he started heading back towards Old Corona.

* * *

Rapunzel strode through one of the caves on the coast of Corona, scanning the walls, floor and ceiling for the glowing stone she was looking for. Thus far she had passed a few clusters of minerals, but none of them were what she was looking for. Her mind supplied her with their names as she walked by them, information which she filed away for later use.

She only had to walk a little farther before a glimmer in the distance captured her attention and she picked up her pace. It grew brighter and bright the closer she got to it. When she finally came to a halt it was in front of a small alcove illuminated by an enormous glowing purple stone. Rapunzel bit her lower lip, gazing at it and wondering how she was supposed to lift it, or event dislodge it from the wall. The rock was far too large and pretty well embedded in the cave wall. She would have to find some way to break it into smaller pieces…

Rapunzel turned on her heel and rushed back through the caves, stopping only once she reached one of the minerals she had passed earlier. The princess picked out a small piece of it and darted over to another, doing the same, before returning to the stone.

_‘These two minerals react explosively with one another if they’re struck in just the right way.’_ Her mind supplied, _‘This should be just the thing to break off a piece or two of that stone.’_

Carefully, Rapunzel enacted her plan while standing in front of the purple rock, arms outstretched, striking the two minerals against each other. In an instant they released a small explosion outwards and she was very glad she was wearing gloves. She heard a cracking sound and when the smoke cleared a chunk was missing from the stone, glimmering fragments strewn across the floor of the cave. Rapunzel scooped up a handful of them with a smile, putting them in her coat pocket and heading out of the cave to make to trek back to Old Corona.

* * *

Eugene, Varian and Rapunzel managed to arrive at the laboratory at the same time. The three friends swiftly got to work on the recipe, preparing the ingredients. They were running out of time. Once that was complete Eugene and Rapunzel stepped back to allow Varian room to work. He stepped up to his equipment to begin creating the potion, but stopped, hesitating. He stared at the various scientific apparatuses that loomed before him and he realized that he couldn’t recognize what any of them were, let alone how to use them.

The other two noticed his hesitation, sharing a look. Then Rapunzel asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I… don’t remember.” Varian told her, sadness tainting his tone. The one thing he had spent his entire life studying and practicing and he had lost it all in the span of mere hours. He looked back at her, “You’re going to have to do this.”

The princess started, surprise taking over her features. She rapidly shook her head and stuttered out, “I-I don’t know anything about alchemy!”

“Right now, you know more about it than I do. You need to try.” the teen told her. She stared at him for a moment, uncertain, then turned her gaze to the man standing next to her. She couldn’t quite place his name, but she felt as though he were important to her somehow. The man gave her a nod of encouragement. She gulped and returned her gaze to Varian, giving him a nod to indicate that she would try to complete the potion, though she still wasn’t certain she actually possessed the skill for it.

Varian moved over to her, taking her gloved hand and guiding her to the table before stepping back to give her room to work.

Rapunzel read over the recipe and the instructions again and then busied herself with carrying them out to the best of her abilities. Thirty minutes later and she turned back to other two occupants in the room, a vial of glittering purple liquid in each hand.

“I hope I got this right.” She sighed, handing one of the vials to Varian.

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” He replied before they both drank the potion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess it's kind of like a Freaky Friday type thing going on here. The good one with Lindsay Lohan, not that new 2018 one with the hourglass.  
It's not over yet though. We still need to see if that potion worked or not. I actually couldn't decide so I wrote two endings and you can decide which one you think is the right one.


	2. The Good Ending

Another day began in Corona as the sun peeked over the horizon, casting a golden light upon the kingdom. The citizens rose with the sun, the remnants of sleep fading from their bones as they got out of bed and prepared for their day. One citizen, however, was awake even before the sun.

Eugene hadn’t slept last night, too consumed by worry and grief to get a lick of rest. His mind refused to quiet until he knew Rapunzel and Varian were once again safely in their own bodies. They had all been hoping that as soon as the two drank the potion the situation would be instantly resolved, but they had no such luck. A look at the last page about the potion in the book, which they had missed in their haste, revealed that it would take time for the potion’s effectiveness to become apparent. Just like the gas that had gotten them into this mess in the first place it would only work after they’ve both been asleep. The former thief had skimmed over the explanation about how the mind and soul were less active while a person slept, making it easier for the potion to do its job. He didn’t need to know _why_ it took so long to hate it for doing so.

In the end, with nothing else they could do, they decided to return to their respective homes and go to sleep. Varian returned to the castle while Rapunzel stayed in Old Corona, reasoning that they would rather wake up in their own beds in the morning instead of each other’s yet again. Eugene had wanted to stay in Old Corona with Rapunzel, but she had urged him to go back to the castle, telling him that he would see her in the morning. A small part of his mind told him that they couldn’t be sure of that. Still, he begrudgingly complied with her request, knowing full well that the real reason behind it was out of concern for his well-being. She knew how hard it was for him watching her deteriorate and unable to do anything to help. She may be oblivious when it came to most people but when it came to Eugene she always knew. Even memory loss and a major identity crisis hadn’t changed that.

So, Eugene had spent all night thinking, wondering, worrying. He wasn’t sure what would happen next if this didn’t work. A million scenarios ran through his head and none of them were good.

As the sun rose Eugene made his way to Rapunzel’s room, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

* * *

Rapunzel woke up slowly. She yawned, sitting up and stretching. The events of the previous day came back to her in a wave and she forced her eyes open. A huge smile took over her face at the sight that greeted her: light colored walls with elegant paintings scrolled across them, tall shelves and a collection of just about everything, a large canopy bed and a hanging branch where her oldest friend slept.

“I’m me again!” Rapunzel shouted as she leapt out of bed. She ran around her room, touching all her things and letting the memories they held flood into her mind, giggling the entire time. She almost missed the quiet knock at her door before it opened, revealing the man she loved. He looked as though he had been brooding.

Before he could speak Rapunzel had bounded over to him and thrown her arms around him. It took the former thief a moment to recover from the shock before he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, burying one hand in her golden blond hair and crying into her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first of two. This one is the Canon Compliant ending since everything gets fixed and the canon story can continue as it was. I imagine that this whole thing would fall somewhere between the end of No Time like The Past and the beginning of The King And Queen Of Hearts.


	3. The Bad Ending

Another day began in Corona as the sun peeked over the horizon, casting a golden light upon the kingdom. The citizens rose with the sun, the remnants of sleep fading from their bones as they got out of bed and prepared for their day. One citizen, however, was awake even before the sun.

Eugene hadn’t slept last night, too consumed by worry and grief to get a lick of rest. His mind refused to quiet until he knew Rapunzel and Varian were once again safely in their own bodies. They had all been hoping that as soon as the two drank the potion the situation would be instantly resolved, but they had no such luck. A look at the last page about the potion in the book, which they had missed in their haste, revealed that it would take time for the potion’s effectiveness to become apparent. Just like the gas that had gotten them into this mess in the first place it would only work after they’ve both been asleep. The former thief had skimmed over the explanation about how the mind and soul were less active while a person slept, making it easier for the potion to do its job. He didn’t need to know _why_ it took so long to hate it for doing so.

In the end, with nothing else they could do, they decided to return to their respective homes and go to sleep. Varian returned to the castle while Rapunzel stayed in Old Corona, reasoning that they would rather wake up in their own beds in the morning instead of each other’s yet again. Eugene had wanted to stay in Old Corona with Rapunzel, but she had urged him to go back to the castle, telling him that he would see her in the morning. A small part of his mind told him that they couldn’t be sure of that. Still, he begrudgingly complied with her request, knowing full well that the real reason behind it was out of concern for his well-being. She knew how hard it was for him watching her deteriorate and unable to do anything to help. She may be oblivious when it came to most people but when it came to Eugene she always knew. Even memory loss and a major identity crisis hadn’t changed that.

So, Eugene had spent all night thinking, wondering, worrying. He wasn’t sure what would happen next if this didn’t work. A million scenarios ran through his head and none of them were good.

As the sun rose Eugene made his way to Rapunzel’s room, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

* * *

Varian woke slowly, pushing herself up and blinking a few times to clear the sleep from her green eyes. She yawned and stretched, looking around her room: light colored walls with elegant paintings scrolled across them, tall shelves and a collection of just about everything, a large canopy bed with a fluffy comforter. It was all familiar and though she couldn’t recall when she had gotten everything she knew they were hers. With another yawn Varian finally climbed out of bed and started brushing out her long brown hair, condensing the seventy feet of chocolate locks into a manageable braid while considering her queenly duties and what she wanted to paint today. As she finished placing her beads she heard a soft knock at her door, to which she cheerily shouted, “Come in!”

“Rapunzel?” a voice asked. The princess turned to look in confusion at the person who had just entered her room. Varian couldn’t place his name or his face but she knew this man was her friend.

“No.” she answered him, tilting her head and giving him a questioning smile. There was a hint of a laugh in her voice, as though she though he may be joking with her, “I’m Varian. Why would you be looking for Rapunzel in my room? He’s probably in his lab in Old Corona.”

The princess watched as the man’s face fell and his eyes darkened. After a moment he cleared his throat and said, “Right. I’m just going to go check on he-… him.”

* * *

Rapunzel woke bright and early, sitting up and stretching. Through a yawn he managed a “Good morning, Rudiger.” before he was out of bed and getting ready to start his day. The poorly lit room was familiar to him, though he couldn’t recall when he started living there. Rapunzel ran a hand through his inky black hair with the single golden blond stripe to sort out his bedhead, mindful not to knock his goggles out of place, then finished getting dressed. His next stop was the kitchen where he ate a quick but hearty breakfast. He made his way there with the practiced familiarity of somebody that had lived in the place their entire life, though trying to think back to any of the other times he made the walk only summoned a kind of mental fog.

Lastly, Rapunzel found himself in his laboratory. There he set to work cleaning his equipment and his workspace. It seemed he had forgotten to do so the night before after completing whatever alchemical experiments he had been trying out. He didn’t remember what those experiments had been or if they had been successful, but he likely took notes that he could check later.

During his tidying up he discovered a book on his table that didn’t belong to him, causing him to pause. Rapunzel picked up the strange tome and opened it to the page that had been marked. It was a recipe for a potion to reverse some kind of magic. If it had to do with magic Rapunzel figured he had likely been helping the princess with something and the book was probably hers. The alchemist closed the tome and set it aside, intent on returning it to her later.

As soon as his equipment was clean and ready for use Rapunzel set to work. He needed to make more of the recipes he had already perfected and he had a few new combinations he wanted to try out. The teen was grounding a black stone into a fine powder when he heard the door to his lab open after somebody walk through.

“Rapunzel?” the uncertain voice of the newcomer questioned. The alchemist glanced up from his work and his heart skipped a beat. Though he couldn’t recall the name of the brunette standing in his laboratory he somehow knew he was in love with the man.

“Yeah. Uh, hey!” Rapunzel replied. He turned to face the chocolate-eyed man, resting his hand on the table and leaning on it in an attempt to look cool, “W-what’s up… uh…?”

He watched the man force a smile, his eyes darkening when the teen didn’t know his name. He coughed, “Eugene. And, uh, I’m just here to… get Xavier’s book for him.”

“Oh. Right over here.” Rapunzel started, walking over to the only book in the room that didn’t belong to him and taking it to Eugene. He gave the man an awkward smile and received a strained one in return. An odd silence hung between them and neither moved for what felt like ages. Then Eugene took the book and moved towards the door saying, “Ah, well, I’ll just. be going then.”

Something inside Rapunzel ached as he watched this man, Eugene, walk away. He bit his lower lip, contemplating what he should do. Really, he should probably just let him go. He didn’t even know him, after all. But he really wanted him to stay…

“Wait!” the young alchemist called after the brunette, causing the man to pause and look back at him. Rapunzel swore he saw something like hope flicker in Eugene’s eyes. He hesitated, unsure what it meant, before he cleared his throat and pressed onward, “I-I’ll go with you… and maybe after we could do something, like take a boat ride.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the second ending. This one isn't Canon Compliant, but it was fun to consider how everything might play out in the future if this happened. I don't plan on actually writing any more for this story, but if I did it would be a continuation of this ending, or a cross over between the two endings.   
As I said before, it's up to you, the reader, to decided which ending is the right one for you. I hope you enjoyed the story.


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